Spring 2002, Volume 2, Number 2 Cover Table for Ladies by Edward Hopper, 1930 Detail. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, George A. Hearn Fund, 1931 (31.62). Photograph ©1983, MMA. Hopper is one of the best known realists in America’s inter-war period. This image depicts a waitress bending over to display fruits in a basket, with another lady behind her at a cash register and two figures, a man and a woman, sitting at a table in the distance. From the Editor Who Doesn’t Like Comfort Food? by Darra Goldstein “I want to read about other people’s comfort foods about as much as I want to read about their favorite brands of toothpaste.” Borborygmus - Rumblings from the World of Food Letters to the Editor Water Toast by Chistine Lamar, Providence, RI – A remembrance of her own, with recipe. Edible Activism by Mark Rose, Seattle, WA – Horrified by Eve Jochnowitz’s article from Fall, 2001, with a reply from Ms. Jochnowitz. Crops, Genes, and Evolution by Brenda Hefti of the National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD and Robert Pincus, Climate Diagnostics Center, Boulder, CO. – Commenting on the Summer, 2001 article by Adrianne Massey, with a reply from Massey. Barbara Tropp (1948-2001) by Joyce Goldstein An obituary and eulogy. With a one-third page, full-color photograph of Ms. Tropp. Slippery Business by Jane Canova The risks of benzopyrene, a known carcinogen, as appears in olive oil. Eat – Unaccredited Introduction of a new, bi-monthly food and lifestyle magazine (published partly in English and partly in Japanese. With a half-page, full-color recreation of the the Packaging issue, Eat 07. God and the Devil in the Kitchen by Robin Kline Essay on the philosophies of Epictetus, food, and pleasure. Cartoon – by Sidney Harris Under the title Pharmaceutical Update…, a sheep, addressing a cow, says, “They got me producing antibiotics for cattle.” The cow replies, “That figures – I’m producing them for sheep.” Orts and Scantlings Sweet Nothings by Mark Morton More etymological ramblings of food words and their origins. With a half-page, black-and-white recreation of The Feminine Monarchie, or the Histori [sic] of Bees by Charles Butler, Oxford: W. Turner, 1634. Feast For The Eye From Field to Frame – The Fine Art of Crop Art by Diana Johnson Beyond Arcimboldo, an essay on the history and development of artwork created out of food from 19th and 20th centuries. With a half-page, full-color photograph of The National Farmers’ Bank made by Lilian Colton in 1982 out of clover, alfalfa, cantaloupe, bromegrass, and canola. Also, two quarter-page, black-and-white photographs, one of Lilian Colton in her studio and another of a Hen and Chicks, ca. 1990 constructed of watermelon, black sunflower, salsify, timothy, baptista, and cornmeal. Past Pleasures Consider the Eel by Richard Schweid Extensive history of this odd ingredient. With two recipes – Stewed Ell and Jellied Eel. With a half-page (vertical), full-color hand-painted drawing of the Common Eel from Mrs. T. Edward Bowdich, The Fresh-water Fishes of Great Britain (London: R. Ackermann, 1828. Also, a quarter-page woodcut of Eel fishing in the fifteenth century from Hortus sanitatis (Main, J. Meydenbach, 1491). Poem Love Soup by Kathryn Hellerstein "Peeling sunchokes, brewing Broth, and warming onions…" Eleven more lines that move towards sex Memoir An Edible Adolescence by Alexandra Stein A 1960s memoir that spans London, Sperlonga, Paris, and New York With a half-page, black-and-white photograph of The Stein children and a one-third page, black-and-white shot of the author’s mother, Jenny Stein, both photographs ca. 1961. Also, a half-page, faded color photo-strip (four shots, vertical) of Pierre Aroutcheff, ca. 1969. Investigations Women Who Eat Dirt by Susan Allport Very fascinating article about dirt (specifically, various types of mud) which are digestible, usually eaten by pregnant women, in Nepal, Africa, India, Central America, and the American South. With a full-page, full-color photograph of A trader from Western Nigeria sorting bags of eko clay at the market in Uzalla, Nigeria, a half page, black-and-white frontispiece from B. Annell and S. Lagercrantz’ Geophagical Customs (Uppsala, Sweden, 1958) depicting a Brazilian slave with mouth lock, and a full-page, black-and-white photograph of edible clays at a market in Accra, Ghana. The Best “Chink” Food – Dog Eating and the Dilemma of Diversity by Frank H. Wu More of a political question about the eating of dog as opposed to looking at the historical roots of canine consumption. With a one-third page, full-color photograph of a vendor selling grilled dog meat in Vietnam and a one-quarter page, full-color photograph of women at a South Korean dog market. Design Designing Technology for Domestic Spaces – A Kitchen Manifesto by Genevieve Bell and Joseph “Jofish” Kaye Manifesto is right – a 13+ page (with 2 ½ pages of 6-font notes) on the history and development of efficient kitchens. With a full-page, full-color shot of Wendy Ju and “counterActive, a half-page, black-and-white diagram of an efficient and an inefficient kitchens by Christine Frederick from The New Housekeeping: Efficiency Studies in the Home Management (New York: Doubleday, 1913), and a half-page, black-and-white photograph of The Frankfurt Kitchen, Austrian Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna. Taste Asparagus Ice Cream, Anyone? by Jeri Qunzio An interesting look back on the development of ice cream – and how odd flavors were the norm going back as early as the seventeenth- and early eighteenth-centuries. With a full-page, full-color reproduction of ”Artistically Served Ices” from The Encyclopaedia of Practical Cookery, edited by Theodore Francis Garrett (London: L. Upcott Gill, 189?), p. 144, fig. 1 shows ”Asparagus Ice flavoured with Asparagus Flavouring.” and a half-page, black-and-white woodcut of Mrs. Marshall’s Ice-Cream Duck from Mrs. A.B. Marshall’s Cookery Book (London: Robert Hayes, 189?), p. 283. Archive A la recherché de la tomate perdue – The First French Tomato Recipe? The text in French from Pauline barjavel de Carpentras 1795 with a translation, commentary on the recipe and author, and conclusion. With a half-page, full-color reprint of Raphaelle Peale’s Still Life, ca. 1810, oil on panel. With comment, Note the ribbed, globular shape of the eighteenth-century tomato in the left foreground.. Photographs by Gail Skoff Ms. Skoff is known for her food photography for Alice Waters’ Chez Panisse Cooking and Paul Bertolli’s Cooking by Hand cookbooks. Here, there are three photographs – all full-page and in black-and-white. Because there is no description or title, the viewer is left to question what is being viewed. The first seems obvious enough – the stem-end of a pear (image: http://www.cecilemoochnek.com/artists/Skoff.htm) while the next two, allude to intimate views of body parts, while they could just be other fruits or vegetables. Diet The Raw Deal by Gayle Forman On raw-food support groups and their growing movement. Slow Foods Spanish Thistle-Bloom Cheese by Rosa Tovar A history, development in Jewish culture (no pun intended), and an interesting catalogue of thistle-bloom cheeses of the Iberian Peninsula. With a one-third page, full-color rendering of Cynara cardunculus from Curtis’s Botanical Magazine (London: Edward Couchman, 1828), p. 2862, and a half-page, black-and-white map, drawn by the Daniel Zarza, of where specific cheeses can be found. Humor The Child’s Physiology of Taste – after Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin With Aphorisms, Definitions, Aesthetics of Presentation, Methods of Consumption, and Different Ways of Preparing a Proper Sandwich. Very cute. Chef’s Page One Market – San Francisco, California by Adrian Hoffman Adrian is protégé under Bradley Ogden. Open for ten years now, this restaurant is known for its wine list, live jazz, and great menu. With a one-third page, black-and-white photograph of a live chicken, standing on a kitchen scale. WWWFood Cuisine with a Conscience by Lisa Förare Winbladh The changing culinary scene in Sweden. With a full-page, full-color photograph of Lobster with rutabaga and rosemary, as prepared by chef Thomas Drejing at his Malmö restaurant, Petri Pumpa. Review Essays Revolutions in Wine by Tara Q. Thomas Two sets of comparison/reviews, the first of three books and the second of two books: A Century of Wine: The History of a Wine Revolution by Stephen Brook, General Editor Wine & War: The French, The Nazis & The Battle for France’s Greatest Treasure by Don and Petie Kladstrup American Vintage: The Rise of American Wine by Paul Lukacs and The Curiosities of Food, or the Dainties and Delicacies of Different Nations Obtained from the Animal Kingdom by Peter Lund Simmonds Strange Foods: Bush Meats, Bats, and Butterflies: An Epicurean Adventure Around the World by Jerry Hopkins With a half-page, full-color photograph of Vietnamese Grilled Mice. Notes on Vintage Volumes ”Berney’s Mystery of Living” and Other Nineteenth-Century Cooking Magazines by Jan Longone Well-researched look into early cookbooks. With a one-third page, black-and-white cover shot of Berney’s Mystery of Living, vol. 1, no. 1 (1868), a full-page, full-color recreation of the cover of The Boston Cooking-School Magazine, vol. XI, no. 5 (December 1906), and three quarter-page, full-color covers: The Cooking Club, vol. 8, no. 3 (March 1902), Table Talk, vol. V, no. 5 (May 1890), and What To Eat (September 1905). The Bookshelf Books in review: The Botany of Desire: A Plant’s-Eye View of the World by Michael Pollan Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World by Sue Shephard The World of Caffeine: The Science and Culture of the World’s Most Popular Drug by Bennett Alan Weinberg and Bonnie K. Bealer Dangerous Tastes: The Story of Spices by Andrew Dalby On Right Pleasure and Good Health: A Critical Edition and Translation of “De honesta voluptate et valetudine” Edited and translated by Mary Ella Milham Libellus de arte coquinaria: An Early Northern Cookery Book Edited and translated by Rudolf Grewe and Constance B. Hieatt Alcohol, Sex, and Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe by A. Lynn Martin Tradewinds & Coconuts: A Reminiscence & Recipes from the Pacific Islands by Jennifer Brennan Bread of Three Rivers: The Story of a French Loaf by Sara Mansfield Taber Food and Drink in Literature: A Selectively Annotated Bibliography by Norman Kiell The Professional Chef, 7th edition by The Culinary Institute of America Bookends A few additional reviews... Secrets of Tsil Café: A Novel with Recipes by Thomas Fox Averill Heaven on the Half Shell: The Story of the Northwest’s Love Affair with the Oyster by David G. Gordon, Nancy E. Blanton, and Terry Y. Nosho Lagniappe Gastronomic Encounters – Who’s Meeting Whom? by Dana Cook Another puzzler – in this case, three different dialogues are transcribed with names replaced with Xs. The reader is challenged to guess who the principals are based on the date, location, and food eaten. Fun.
